Spy equipment from the Surveillance Group Limited, a British private detective agency based in Worcester, England, has been found in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where Julian Assange, editor of Wikileaks, has taken refuge.

“Our work in this arena includes the detection of malpractice by employees relative to the passing of confidential company information or the infringement of restrictive covenants and breaches of contract.”

Company web pages show pictures of hooded youth smashing store windows as well as testimonials from companies like Nike who congratulated them on helping find addresses of vendors selling counterfeit goods: "I am extremely impressed with the service provided by the team at The Surveillance Group and would definitely recommend them for brand protection work,” Chloe Young, a Nike official was quoted as saying.

The Surveillance Group also offers “professional diplomas” in “tactical counter surveillance” for £5190 ($8,000)

However the company appears to have completely failed to foil the plans of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, which were likely hatched in the very building that was being bugged and most certainly did not dissuade them from launching a daring international escape for the former spy, that was worthy of Hollywood.

On June 23 Wikileaks staffer Sarah Harrison spirited Snowden out of Hong Kong - where he had been staying - to Moscow, taking the intelligence agencies by surprise.

"I suggest talking to Assange to better control the communications," the newspaper quoted Nathalie Cely, Ecuador's ambassador to the U.S. in a message to presidential spokesman Fernando Alvarado. "From outside…[Assange] appears to be 'running the show.'”

However, the interception of emails from South American governments appears to have been just as useless as the bugging at foiling Snowden’s plans. On July 2, the U.S. government sparked a diplomatic crisis by attempting to block a flight by President Evo Morales of Bolivia, under the suspicion that he was transporting Snowden. Morales was detained at Vienna airport for 14 hours but eventually completed his journey.